Welcome to Eva, Welcome to Madness
by fatboyftw
Summary: After one fan is thrown into the hell that is Neon Genesis Evangelion he decides to do whatever he can to stop third impact. But what exactly can he do against secret organizations and Eldritch abominations? (PS. Credit goes to Fanus Obscurus for the title)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: First of all I don't own Neon genesis evangelion and that makes me sad. Second of all this is a self insert story so if you're not a fan well you've been warned.

Chapter 1: Prologue

"Ugh my head is killing me" I exclaim. I slowly begin to open my eyes and see that I'm...in the middle of the city? I begin to pick myself up off the ground but am knocked back down by some sort of tremor.

I pick myself again and begin to look around the city, it seems to be abandoned. I feel another tremor. What the hell keeps doing that? I mentally ponder. I hear helicopters overhead. My gaze follows the choppers until I see something that makes my eyes go wide with terror.

A giant green and grey humanoid...thing, it's surprisingly familiar looking. Suddenly the wheels in my brain clicked, this thing is from Neon genesis evangelion. Oh god of all the anime why did it have to be this one, suddenly another tremor interrupts my train of thought. I can't just sit here feeling sorry for myself, I have bigger problems right now like how the hell I'm going to get out of here.

I rack my brain trying to think of how to get away from the angel. "AH HA!" I exclaim. Shinji's probably still in the city, if I can just find him and hitch a ride with Misato I'll be home free.

I begin to scan the area, and spot a kid near a payphone. Brown hair, White shirt, black pants, depressed look on his face, that's Shinji all right.

I run up to him, he seems surprised that someone other than him would be in the middle of the city. Before either of us can say anything a helicopter slams into the building we're next to, and after that the angel comes out of nowhere and stomps on it. Both me and Shinji were in the middle of picking ourselves up off the ground when a blue car comes speeding in.

"Sorry I'm late-wait a minute who's this with you...oh never mind just get in NOW!" Both Shinji and I hop into the car without hesitation. "So Shinji who's your friend?" Misato asks casually. "I've never seen him before until a few minutes ago." Shinji replies.

"You do realize I can talk right?" I reply a bit annoyed that they just ignored me completely. "Hey don't get snippy with me I just saved your ass." Misato states, though you can't tell if she's just messing with you or not.

"Anyway..." I introduce myself to the two in the front seats. "Hello" Shinji replies in his usual nervous way. "Nice to meet ya!" Misato cheerfully says. "So why were you in the middle of the city anyway?" Misato inquires. "Well I know this is going to sound strange but honestly I don't remember anything prior to waking up in the middle of the city except my name." I lie. I decided that faking amnesia would be my best option, I don't really think anyone here would react well to being told they were anime characters.

"Sorry to hear that." Shinji says. "Yeah that must be pretty rough, but I'm sure you'll regain your memory sooner or later." Misato says in her usual cheerful way. "Thanks guys." you sincerely thank them. Oh I just realized that you don't even know our names. Misato says.

After Shinji and Misato introduced themselves the car ride got pretty boring, since they basically just talked amongst themselves almost as if they completely forgot about you, and since you've already heard all of this before you just stared out the window.

After a while the car comes to a stop, "We'll have to go on foot from here." Misato states. True to the anime Misato has no idea where she's going. "Are we lost?" Shinji asks. "Hey I'm new here." Misato replies. After the fourth or fifth dead end my mind began to wonder. Huh I never noticed it until now but I'm eye to eye with Shinji, which is weird considering your eighteen. Come to think of it but I only come up to Misato's chest...which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Dirty thoughts aside there's only two explanations I can think of 1. Both Misato and Shinji are taller than what the anime depicted or 2. Whatever brought me here also shrunk me into a fourteen year old.

I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't even notice the person sneaking up behind me until they had a handkerchief laced with chloroform pushed against my face. The last thing I hear before I black out is Misato yelling "What the hell Ritsuko?!" .

So yeah this is my first time doing this, it's definitely not a masterpiece but I hope it was enjoyable enough. If you have some ideas as to how I could do better well feel free to post a review.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Enlisting

Slowly I begin to come back to conciousness.

From my still blurry vision I can only make out white walls and a few objects that you can only vaguely make out the shapes of.

I begin to stir which invokes a monotone "He's awake" from...someone.

The voice is definitely female but I can't make it out since my mind is still a bit fuzzy from well whatever knocked me out.

Well the only way to know for sure is to take a look I mentally decide.

I begin to sit up and almost jump out of my skin, up until now I just thought that everything up until this point had been a hallucination caused by a concussion but no, standing before me taking notes is Ritsuko Akagi.

My last few moments of consciousness come flying back to me, the sound of heels clicking, the handkerchief laced with chloroform, and Misato yelling at Ritsuko accusingly.

Well I can't really blame her for doing what she did, I was in a top secret government facility along with Earth's last line of defense against the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.

She probably wanted to protect 2 things, Shinji and Nerv's secrets.

Speaking of Shinji, I wonder if he beat the angel. "I'm assuming that monster was destroyed if your busy taking care of me?" I ask. "Correct." Ritsuko blandly states.

"So...mind telling me who you are and why I was gassed." you already knew the answers, but you couldn't let her know that.

Taken a bit aback by how direct my questions were it took her a bit of time to respond.

"I am Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, and the reason why you were incapacitated was because of the fact that you are in a highly protected military base, the only reason no one killed you on site is because you were accompanied by one of our personel." she says in cold but also matter-of-fact tone.

"I'll have to reprimand her for that later." she adds in a tone that would make it clear to anyone that she was used to dealing with Misato's irresponsible actions.

"So why am I still alive then, you surely got Misato's side of the story and you don't seem like the type to take risks especially considering how sketchy my story sounds, not that I'm complaining of course." I inquire with a bit of nervousness. (HA, Evangelion puns)

"The reason you're still alive is because we here a NERV have an important assignment for you, fifth child. You are one of the few who can pilot something known as an Evangelion and can protect humanity from monsters like the one you saw earlier."

I just sit there not knowing what to think, me a savior of humanity, it's less farfetched than me being sucked into an anime but far scarier.

Ritsuko not seeming to notice or care about my plight, just keeps on talking in that cold and professional tone of hers.

"You will learn about the Evangelions and the beings known as Angels later, for now we will talk about your living conditions. Colonel Katsuragi told me that you told her you have no memory outside of waking up in the middle of Tokyo 3 and since you will be partners with the third child it would be for the best that you stay with the two of them."

As if on cue Misato walks through the door.

She starts apologizing immediately which now that I think about it is something that you never saw her do a lot of in the show.

"I'm sorry that I let you in here, it's because of me that you-"

I cut her apology short, "It's ok Colonel Katsuragi you were in the middle of running from a giant human...thing, you couldn't just leave me standing there."

Her face seems to almost instantly light up.

"Thanks for understanding, and by the way if we're going to be Roomies you really should call me Misato." she says cheerfully.

"Speaking of, during all the commotion I forgot your name."

"Oh it's Brandyn Hicks, you could call me by either my first or last name really since Hicks is my nickname." oh crap, think of something.

"I guess some of my memories are coming back" you quickly add to hopefully cover your slip up.

She chuckles a bit "Just Brandyn will do...is that a foreign name?"

I just shrug, not knowing if I would forget that knowledge if I had amnesia.

"Well I guess it doesn't matter now, come on Shinji's already waiting for us."

I get out of the hospital bed and follow Misato to her car and to my new life.

I hope I got Ritsuko and Misato's personalities down. Next chapter will be focusing more on me getting settled into the Katsuargi apartment. Like before feel free to post a review if you have any advice. Also can anyone help me name this thing, I can't think of a fitting name for the life of me.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:Home Sweet Home

It wouldn't be messy she said, she just moved in she said. I've watched the show so I knew the apartment would be messy but nothing prepared me for this.

Beer cans and instant food containers littered the floor while dirty dishes were overflowing the sink. "I'll help Shinji clean this up later." I mentally note. I walk to the nearest empty bedroom and set down the bag full of clothes that Misato bought for me.

From what I could tell there are only 3 bedrooms. I sigh, better not get too comfortable because I'm sure I'll get kicked out of this room when Asuka inevitably moves in.

I begin to put the clothes in a dresser that was already conveniently in the room. "Brandyn dinners ready!" you hear Misato's voice. "Oh boy now I get to taste Misato's infamous cooking" you mumble as you leave the room.

The second you sit down at the table Misato starts downing her first and definitely not her last can of beer today. "YEAH! Now that's the stuff Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner." she practically yells.

"So anyway word on the street is we're going to be to be teammates Shinji." I decide I better begin to befriend Shinji sooner rather than later if I'm going to take down his bastard of a father. "Yeah I heard." Shinji states in a rather downcast tone. "Oh come on Shinji don't be so down you just saved the entire world" Misato says cheerfully. "Yeah I know, I just wish father would say that." Shinji states. "Oh I'm sure he's proud of you." Misato replies, though she probably doesn't believe it. "And even if he's not, Misato and I are so who needs him." I add.

Shinji sighs "Thanks." he says as he leaves for his room, though from his tone I can tell that my words didn't really affect him. Frustrated by my failure to help Shinji I practically growl "I'm going to bed." and head to my room. "Well um...good night you two." Misato says awkwardly, she definitely wasn't expecting that outburst.

I lay in my bed and begin to think about what Ritsuko told me. Me the fifth child...wait a minute FIFTH child, then who's the fourth? I barely resist the urge to scream out in frustration, I thought I had this all figured out in my head but with my failed attempt to help Shinji and now THIS. Well at least tomorrow I start my synch tests. After that I begin to make plans to beat Gendo at his own game.

**The next day at NERV headquarters**

"Good work Brandyn a synch rate of 30% is pretty impressive for your first test, and good news with this data we can find out which evangelion unit will be the best fit for you." Misato says. "So what will I be doing before I get my own Evangelion?" I ask. "Well since Rei is injured, in case of angel attack you will piloting Unit 00." Ritsuko replies.

**Three weeks later**

I trail behind Shinji as we start our first of many treks to school, Ugh this was one thing I've been dreading since I moved into Misato's apartment. Having to go to school and make plans to dethrone the bastard king of Tokyo 3, I feel like I'm in a stereotypical teen super hero show. Neither of you said anything on the way, Shinji didn't because well he's Shinji (Hedgehogs Dilemma and all that.) and well I'm not only sad that I have to go to school but I had also just spent another night failing to think of a plan to save this world.

Eventually you two enter the classroom, I begin to look around and don't see a whole lot of people here. The only faces I recgonize are Shinji, Hikari, Kensuke, and Rei. Touji's probably with his sister, that was one thing I wanted to prevent. You sit down next to Rei, might as well try to befriend her as quick as possible too. "Um...Hi Rei." I awkwardly greet her. "Hello Fifth Child" She replies in that monotone voice of hers. "Oh so you know who I am." I say to the back of her head. Before Rei can say anything else Touji comes into the room.

"Oh Touji your back." Kensuke says. "Suzuhara where have you been!?" Hikari begins to berate him. By this point you try to imitate Shinji and just block everything out, you didn't need to hear the depressing details all over again. Luckily you don't have to imitate him for long though because the teacher comes in.

The class was boring since all the teacher talked about was Second Impact so I decided to continue thinking of a plan to dethrone the bastard king. I couldn't focus though because Shinji reveals the fact that he's the pilot of Unit 01 and everyone inevitably crowds around and begin to ask questions. I look around and see Touji glaring at the back Shinji's head, if looks could kill Shinji would've been dragged to hell ten times over by now. You decide to use the class' instant message type thing to try to calm him down.

Look I get that your mad about your sister but I'm a pilot too, and I live with Shinji, the day the angel attacked was his first time piloting that thing. He didn't even know it existed before then.

I take a look at Touji and he seems to of calmed down, I mentally sigh. About time I prevented something bad from happening. I take a look back at the crowd and can't help but chuckle at Hikari's attempts to get them to sit down.

When lunch time eventually came Shinji and I went to the roof to eat. I just sit down, relax, and let the breeze wash over me. "Maybe this would be a good time to get some sleep" I think to myself. "Hey Brandyn" Shinji suddenly says. "What's up?" I ask. "Why did you decide to pilot Eva?" He asks. Before I can answer a shadow is cast over me, I look up and see Rei. "We are needed at Headquarters, an angel is attacking." Rei states in as monotone a voice as before.

I stand up, "Well I just can't let the entire world be destroyed can I? I can't just sit around while tragedies like what happened to Touji's sister have a chance of being repeated." I state in the most serious tone I've used since I've gotten to this world. "And besides living with a hottie like Misato is enough of a reward." I add with a grin. And with that I start to run towards HQ to stop Shamshel.

Well that was a major improvement from the first two chapters if I do say so myself, stay tuned for my first fight with an angel in the next chapter. Edit: Did some editing on this chapter to help foreshadow "my" character development in chapters 5 and 6.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Life lessons

As Shinji and I desperately try to keep up with Rei, I'm already devising a plan to beat Shamshel as efficiently as possible. I stop to pant for air, with Shinji stopping right behind me. "Rei may be injured but that angel DNA does wonders for her athletic ability." I mumble in between pants. "What was that?" Shinji asks. "Uh, nothing" I say before sprinting off after Rei again.

**NERV HQ: A few minutes later**

It took a while but Shinji and I finally made it to HQ. "Go get suited up." Ritsuko's voice echos from the loud speakers. "No shit!" I yell at the voice even though I know she can't hear me. I run into the changing room and quickly put on my plugsuit (which is basically just a male version of Rei's).

**Inside Unit 00: A few more minutes later**

The entry plug is inserted and the room if you can call it that begins to fill up with LCL. "I'll never get used to that." I state. "But anyway Misato what do we know about the angel?" I ask. "All we know is that it's only method of attack seems to be these energy whips and that it's core is exposed on it's body." Misato replies.

"Misato are there any catapults in the area that would send me behind the angel?" I ask. "Just one, what are you planning?" Misato asks curiously. "I'll go behind the angel and grab it's tentacle whips, I should be able to hold it long enough for Shinji to destroy the core." I lay out my plan while grinning a bit at my cleverness. "Unit 00 will get damaged a bit in the process but it's the most efficient way to destroy the angel I can think of." I add.

"Sounds good, you heard all that right Shinji?" Misato asks. "Yes ma am" Shinji replies. "We are good to go, Evangelion Units 00 and 01 PREPARE TO LAUNCH!" Misato yells.

The catapult launches Unit 00 at dizzying speeds, I hang onto the induction levers (yes I actually looked up the name of the control lever things) for dear life. Suddenly the Eva stops at the surface and my whole body is thrown forward. I rub the back of my neck which is a bit sore because of the sudden whiplash. "Ow, couldn't you guys think of a better way to get the Eva's up to the surface? Any faster and we pilots would break our necks before we even began to fight the angels." I jokingly say. "Speaking of pilots, how about you do your job!" Ritsuko who apparently has no time your childish attitude says. "Killjoy." I mumble. "I heard that." She replies.

"Shinji do you have your progressive knife ready?" I ask. "Yep." Shinji replies. "Well then we're ready to go." I say while running up to Shamshel. Suddenly the angel turns around, "Crap I'm not gonna dodge in time!" I exclaim before one of the whips wraps around Unit 00's neck. The pain is unbearable, at this rate I'll black out. "Shinji throw me your knife." I barely choke out.

Shinji throws the knife, and I catch it. "I hope this works" I think and try to use the knife to cut the whip. "Damnit what are these whips made of!" I choke out. Suddenly two purple and green arms come around, grab onto the whips, and pull them behind Shamshel thus releasing me from their grip. "I'm one lucky son of a bitch" I mentally note. "Brandyn I don't know how much more of this I can take." Shinji says. I stab into the core, sparks come flying out of it and just like in the anime Shamshel dies.

"You know you two should stay out of a war zone." I say to two figures on the hill. I exent Unit 00's hand, eject my entry plug and use the Eva's arm as a bridge to the hill. I jump and land next to Touji and Kensuke. "Though you know, you two would make great pilots." I say. "What?!" Touji yells. "NO WAY!" Kensuke cheerfully exclaims.

**Nerv Headquarters: A few minutes later**

"Brandyn, Shinji, what are you two doing letting citizens into HQ!?" Misato yells. "Hey look the Pots calling the Kettle black." I reply. "I apologized for that!" Misato yells. "Oh I'm just kidding Misato, in all seriousness though the reason I let them in is because I think they would make great pilots." I say. "That's my decision to make." Misato grumbles. "Come on this way." Misato starts walking towards Ritsukos office Touji and Kensuke follow.

Shinji and I hang back, "Brandyn I want to talk to you about the reason you pilot Eva." Shinji says. "What's on your mind?" I ask. "Well how do you do it, how can you just decide to risk your life for people you've never even met. They might not even respect or appreciate what you do." he asks in a downcast tone. "Shinji you can't go through life being dependent on what others think, you have to find value in yourself." I reply. "I'll try." Shinji says with a rare smile on his face. "Maybe there's hope for you after all Shinji." I state. And with that both of you continue to follow a grumbling Misato, bewildered Touji, and excited Kensuke towards Rituko's office.

Well that was my first action chapter, honestly I don't think I did a very good job with the fight but hey that's what later chapters are for.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Sleep walking  
**

** Ritsuko's office**

"Honestly Misato at this rate you'll be out of a job." Ritsuko coyly states, she had just run Kensuke and Touji through the Marduk institute and labeled them the Sixth and Seventh children." Ha Ha very funny Ritsuko". Misato dead pans before sipping on some coffee. "That's lukewarm." Ritsuko warns. Misato spits the coffee out and sets the cup back down, "Could've warned me sooner." Misato mumbles.

"Still though that Brandyn kid has been full of surprises, besides this he's also been able to synch up with Unit 01 which rejected even Rei. Not to mention the fact that he's gotten Shinji and Rei to open up, though his actual combat performance has been disappointing." Ritsuko says. "Yeah but I've been starting to worry about him, lately he's always been the first one up, plus he has rings under his eyes. I'm starting to wonder if he even sleeps at all but every time I ask him about it he just changes the subject. Your a doctor, think you could talk to him?" Misato asks.

"I'll talk to him during the next synch test. The commander would have my ass if one of our pilots were unusable due to something as simple as sleep deprivation." Ritsuko replies. "Speaking of the Commander, how did your date go last night?" Misato teased.

**Tokyo 3 Highschool (it doesn't have an official name)**

I walk into the classroom, my vision blurry from lack of sleep. I had just wasted another night hopelessly trying to think of a plan to beat Gendo. "He's got the damn game rigged!" I yell out in my head.

I sit down at my desk beside Rei and put my head in my hands, there has to be a way, something I missed, or- "Fifth child are you alright?" Rei's voice interrupts my thoughts. Sick and tired of hearing this question I snap, "I'm fine Rei!" I yell in an angry tone. I move my hands away from my face and see that everyone in the class (The few that didn't move away after the second angel attack anyway) was looking at me.

I look at Rei, she seems to have the same facial expression as always but I'm pretty sure the fact that one of her two friends (Kensuke and Touji are having a harder time warming up to her) yelled at her did hurt. "I'm sorry Rei, you were just trying to help I shouldn't of snapped at you like that." I apologize. "It is ok." She replies in a voice as monotone as ever. I sigh, if Rei's worried about me I must look like shit, maybe Shinji and Misato are right, maybe I should get some sleep. I take another look at Rei's face and watch as it changes into the smiling face of the Rei/Lilith hybrid. No, I can worry about sleeping once I stop Third Impact.

**NERV HQ: Later that day.**  
"Brandyn?!" Ritsuko's voice jolts me out of my sleep. "I'm here." I say groggily. "What happened, your synch rate dropped like a rock for a second." I look around and see that I'm in the entry plug of Unit 00. "I'm sorry my mind just started wandering, it won't happen again." I say.

**Ritsuko's office: A few minutes later**

Ritsuko had basically dragged me back to her office after the synch test was over. "Misato asked me to talk to you." Ritsuko starts. "I already told her that I'm fine." I say before starting to stand. I try to walk out the door but stumble, I lean myself up against the wall to keep from falling. "You can't even stand, what makes you think you can take on the angels in your condition. Your a pilot now, you can't just do whatever you want, how are you supposed to save people when you can't even help yourself." I grimace at her words, they were harsh but true. Despite my intentions I've done nothing but worry everyone. She hands you a bottle of pills "Take one of these sleeping pills everyday, Rei will pilot Unit 00 until we know you won't pull another stupid stunt like this again." She tells me coldly. I take the pills, put my head down, and utter "Yes ma am."

I walk out the door and begin to head towards Misato's apartment. I pass Misato on the way, I don't want to face her so I keep walking but she puts her hand on my shoulder. "So did Ritsuko talk to you?" she asks. "Yeah, I've been relieved of duty until further notice, don't worry I won't do something stupid like this again." I reply, I tried to mask my sadness but didn't do a very good job.

Misato probably not knowing what to say just looks sad. "I'm going back to the house." I say with a fake smile. "Oh Ok, Shinji and I will be there soon, take care of Pen-Pen." Misato says with a smile that she probably only made to try to make me feel better.

I once again begin my trek to the Katsuragi household but am stopped when an alarm sounds. "An angel now?!" I exclaim. I watch as Misato starts running towards the command center and after a little bit I begin to do the same. "I may not be able to pilot but I can help them find a way to hurt that thing, I won't mess up again." I mumble under my breath.

So yeah that was my attempt at a darker chapter, I think I did a pretty good job but it's what you guys think that matters so yeah, review and stuff.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Sleep walking part 2  
**

I follow Misato into the command center, "What are you doing here Brandyn?" Ritsuko asks the moment I walk through the door. "Look I know you guys are mad at me but you need all the help you can get." I reply. "And just how much help do you think someone in your mental and physical condition could give?" Ritsuko states. Her words linger in the air. "Don't be so hard on him Ritsuko, he's just trying to help." Maya of all people is the one to defend you.

"Enough of this." comes a voice from behind, I turn around and see the bastard king himself, Gendo Ikari. Despite the fact that I've been stranded here for two months this is the first time I've seen him in person. "The fifth child will be escorted out of this room." Gendo states without a hint of emotion. I sigh, I could argue with Ritsuko but Gendo is an entirely different beast. I follow two C-sec agents out of the room. "Is the pilot of Unit 01 ready?" I hear Gendo say. Shinji's "Yes sir" is the last thing I hear before the door shuts behind me.

I'm escorted to a random bunker deeper in NERV HQ. "Well at least this bunker has a bed." I mentally note. I figured now would be a good time to get some sleep. I lay on the bed but can't fall asleep because of the adrenaline and general nervousness that comes with an angel attack. Even after taking one of those pills Ritsuko gave me I couldn't get a wink of sleep. I sigh, I wonder how the battle is going.

** Central Command**

"Is the pilot of Unit 01 ready?" Gendo asks. "Yes sir" Shinji replies. The Catapult launches him up. "Alright now Shinji we don't know a whole lot about this angel so just keep your distance and observe." Misato says. "Power levels spiking!" Maya yells. "What?!" Misato replies. "It's about to attack what do we do Captain?!" Makoto says. "Shinji get out of there now!" Misato yells. Before Shinji can move out of the way the beam hits.

Shinji's scream can be heard throughout the room. Everyone seems to be horrified at whats happening (well everyone but Gendo anyway) though it seems to have effected Maya the most. "Eject the Entry plug, pilot safety is top priority!" Misato orders. "Cancel that order" Gendo says. "What?!" Misato yells. "If we eject the pilot his AT field will disappear and we'll lose Unit 01." Ritsuko replies. "Alright then, set off the bombs under Tokyo 3, we'll retrieve Unit 01 that way." Misato says.

** Down in the Bunker**

I hear an explosion, "they must be setting off those bombs to retrieve Shinji" I think to myself. Suddenly the door to my cell as I call it opens. "Come with us" one of the two C-sec officers that escorted me down here says. I start following them and realize that we're...going back up to central command?! Something's wrong, they wouldn't be calling me back there unless they were desperate. I start running towards Central command, which surprises the C-sec agents.

I rush into the room, "Whats wrong?" I say in between pants. "Shinji's been incapacitated, and the angel's going to pierce all the layers of NERV in four hours." Misato replies. Four hours?! Dammit, some of the angels have gotten stronger, yet another complication in my plan to fix this world. "So I'm assuming I'm going to be piloting Unit 01?" I ask. "Yes, both you and Rei will be deployed, well once we get Unit 01 fixed anyway." Misato says.

** Shinji's Hospital room**

I go to see Rei who is watching over Shinji in the hospital. "Hey Rei." I say as I enter the room. Rei greets me back "Hello fifth child.". "You could try calling me Brandyn you know, everyone else does." I say. "Oh, OK...Brandyn." Rei replies. "Now your getting it!" I exclaim. "So why did you come all this way to communicate with me Brandyn?" Rei asks. "What can't a couple of friends just talk before a life threatening mission?" I say jokingly. "I suppose not." Rei replies, she didn't seem to get the joke. In all actuality the real reason

"So why did you come to check on Shinji anyway?" I tease. Rei's face just barely turns red, though considering this Rei we're talking about she might as well be beet red. "I merely came to check on pilot Ikari because he was hurt and-" Rei rambles a bit. I laugh "Ok, OK, no need to blow a fuse Rei I won't press you any further on the matter." "Now I know why Misato does this all the time" I think to myself. Rei glances at her watch, "Come, the operation is about to start." she says before running off like usual.

** Location of Operation**

"So what's the plan?" I ask. "Well despite the fact that we're calling this an operation we really don't have any sort of plan beyond kill that thing." Misato replies. "So it's a suicide mission." I mumble. Misato just looks down at her feet. Maybe it was because of my disturbing lack of fear at this apparent suicide mission but it was at this point that I realized just how mentally and emotionally drained I really am. The only things keeping me together at this point are anxiety and adrenaline.

** Inside Unit 01**

"Are you ready?" Misato bluntly asks. "As ready as I'll ever be." I reply. "How about you Rei." Misato asks. "I am also prepared." Rei states. "Then go out there and kick some angel ass!" Misato yells before signaling Aoba to launch the catapults. The catapults launch Rei and I towards the surface. The sudden whiplash throws me forward. "Brandyn, Rei we're sending up some rifles!" you can hear Misato's voice echo throughout the entry plug. I grab the rifle from the bulding next to me and begin to open fire.

The shots just bounce off Ramiel's AT field. I see Ramiel preparing to counter attack, "Rei shoot the core!" I yell before dodging out of the way of the gigantic laser heading my way. Rei does her best but can't hit the core. "Dammit!" I yell. "Energy levels spiking!" I hear Maya's voice. "Oh No, REI LOOK OUT!" I yell. Rei tried to dodge but it was too late, everything in her general direction was consumed in a giant energy beam. I scan through the aftermath of the explosion and see Unit 00 layed out on the ground. "REI, REI, RESPOND DAMMIT!" I yell at the top of my lungs. "Her life signs are faint but there, just worry about taking down the bastard that did that to her." I hear Misato's voice say.

How do I take down a monster like this, our weapons are useless, the only reason Ramiel was defeated before isn't here, not to mention the fact that he's stronger than before. There's only one way, I begin focusing my thoughts. "Yui Ikari, I don't have the strength to protect what I care about, but you do. Help me, if you don't want to do it for me fine but do it for your son...Shinji." I mentally communicate with the mother inside the monster.

Unit 01 roars at the top of it's lungs, "What's going on?!" I hear Ritsuko say. "Has it gone beserk?!" Maya speaks next. "No, Brandyn's still piloting!" I hear Misato shout. I jump towards Ramiel, "How is this possible?! A synch rate of 300% has never been achieved!" Misato exclaims. I thrust Unit 01's hands into Ramiel and begin to pull the not completely solid angel apart enough to expose the core.

"It's getting ready for another shot!" Maya yells. Ramiel fires a shot point blank into Unit 01's face, the Eva stumbles a bit but I keep my grip on the geometry assignment from hell. Unit 01's eyes begin to glow and before long they shoot lasers point blank into Ramiel's core. Ramiel explodes and it's blood rains everywhere. I don't know if it was the emotional toll, the physical toll, or the fact that I haven't gotten any sleep in the last 48 hours but I pass out.

I groggily open my eyes to see that I'm in a hospital and that Misato is looking at me, I give her a stupid grin. "Don't you ever do something that stupid again!" Misato warns with a stern face...she can't keep it for long though because she starts crying and pulls me in for a warm embrace.

And that my friends is the epic finale to the first arc if you can call it that. I hope the end fight didn't seem too mary sueish and don't worry Shinji and Rei will be back in commission in the chapters to come. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you had just as much fun reading it. In the next arc Asuka comes to town and the other pilots get more screen time (or I guess word time?), and we also get to find out who the fourth child is.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Aftermath

I wake up, "still in the hospital"l I mumble. It had been two weeks since Ramiel attacked. The fact that I had gotten a 300% synch rate with Unit 01 helped me beat Ramiel, but it also took a major toll on my body. Cracked ribs, internal bleeding, a concussion, I had it all.

The one thing that Misato, Ritsuko, Shinji, and even Rei (albeit in her own way) had made abundantly clear is that if I ever managed a 300% synch rate again and the injuries didn't kill me, well they would do the deed instead as punishment for me being so reckless. Though the question as to why I wasn't absorbed like most people would have been has been nagging at my mind ever since I regained conciousness.

Rei, Shinji, and Misato suddenly walk into the hospital room. "Well speak of the devil and he shall appear." I think to myself. "Oh hey guys, where are Kensuke and Touji?" I ask noticing that they're missing from the group. "They're doing synch tests, Ritsuko's been running them ragged with training sessions lately. In account of you being relieved of duty until your back to 100 percent." Misato states. "What you did with Unit 01 was amazing though. I still don't know how you managed a 300 percent synch rate." Shinji says. "Oh don't worry Shinji, she'll synch up to you like that eventually, just give it time." I say.

"She?" Shinji repeats while giving me a curious look. "Well it does look kinda feminine what with the purple and bright green." Misato says. I look at Misato, and begin to wonder if I should tell her. It would make life easier but at the same time would she even believe me, and if she did what would her reaction be? Would she tell anyone else or not? No, to many uncertainties I'll just do it myself.

"Brandyn, you still with us?" Shinji's voice interrupts my thoughts. "You were looking at Misato funny, are you OK?" he asks. "Do you want to have intimate relations with her?" Rei asks, though you can't tell if she was holding a grudge about when you teased her about Shinji or if she was just being Rei. "Awww" Misato coos and ruffles my brown hair, "you've got a little crush on me." Misato teases. During all this my face was bright red and I barely resisted the urge to hide my head under my pillow.

"We did come here for reasons other than to bug you though." Misato says. I look at her curiously. "I decided to take everyone down to the Over the Rainbow Naval fleet to go meet the pilot of unit 02, and I just wanted to make sure you were healthy enough to tag along." Misato says. "Anything to get out of this stuffy hospital." I say. "Ritsuko still wants you to stay one more day in the hospital but I'll pick you up tomorrow before we leave." Misato states. They leave and I lay back down, I'm happy to finally get out of the hospital but I'm a bit nervous of meeting Asuka, she's going to be the hardest one to help.

Sorry about the shorter than usual chapter, I just thought that the chapter 5 and 6 two parter needed a bit of an epilouge. In episode 8 I meet Asuka and Kensuke and Touji will finally get some screen time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Welcome to the family **

Hey kid I have to question, whats with the violent agression?

"So cool!" Kensuke exclaims, while moving around in the already cramped helicopter to get a shot. "Sit down military nerd." Touji says while putting a hand on Kensuke's shoulder and forcibly making him sit back down. "Couldn't we have traveled in anything roomier?" I ask. Misato looks to the back seat and almost laughs at the site of Shinji, Rei, Touji, Kensuke, and I all cramped in the back of the helicopter which was probably only made to fit 3 people at the most.

"I'm sorry but the captain of the Over the Rainbow wouldn't let us travel any other way and despite the fact that we're important NERV employees on the sea what he says goes." Misato explains. Eventually the helicopter lands and when the doors open we all fall into a big pile. "Well I'm going to go introduce myself to the captain." Misato says while stifling a giggle at our predicament. We all pick ourselves while she walks away. I look around at the scenery, I lived in the country so I was never around the sea too much. "The water looks nice but it smells a bit..." Shinji pauses for a second while trying to think of the right word. "I think the word your looking for is fishy." I say. "Yeah that's the one." Shinji replies. Suddenly our conversation is interrupted by a sudden outburst by a loudmouthed jock as Hikari once put it.

"My hat!" Touji exclaims as he and Kensuke chase after it. Shinji, Rei, and I follow after them. I watch as a redheaded girl stomps on the hat, "The crimson princess herself" I mumble. Yep standing before our little gang is none other than Asuka Langely Sohryu, the girl with hair almost as fiery as her personality. Wait a minute is someone else with her, before I can get my answer the wind picks up and since Asuka was wearing her yellow sundress just like in the anime well...

A few seconds later the sound of four audible slaps echo throughout the ship. Kensuke, Touji, Shinji, and I were all rubbing our cheeks, I guess Rei got a free pass since she was a woman. "Ow, what the hell was that!" Touji yells. "That was the viewing fee, pretty generous wouldn't you agree?" Asuka asks smugly.

"I sure got my moneys worth, Red." comes a voice from the other girl that you saw earlier. She drapes her arm around Asuka's shoulders while laughing a bit. "Of course YOU would Mari." Asuka replies as she rolls her eyes. I take another look at the girl "Mari? She wasn't in the show." I think to myself. She has brown hair, a headband that looks suspiciously like the ones pilots wear while wearing their plugsuit, and glasses. She seems to of worn a simple T-shirt that shows off her navel and some shorts. Suddenly she walks up and...sniffs everyone? She practically purrs when she finally gets to me. "Oh you must be the fifth child who killed Ramiel single handedly." she says.

I blush at how close she is and lean back a bit "Uh y-yeah that's me." I stutter. "You gonna fill me in Mari?" Asuka asks. Mari backs off from me a bit and answers Asuka. "They're all Eva pilots." Mari says. "ALL OF THEM?!" Asuka yells in disbelief. "Yeah, you seriously didn't hear about all the new recruits?" Mari asks. "That can't be possible, this many new pilots in such a short amount of time?" Asuka says still in disbelief. While Mari and Asuka argue a bit my mind wanders a bit. Who is this Mari and more importantly how could she tell we were Eva pilots through the power of scent?

The argument seems to have ended "Geez Nerv must be getting desperate." Asuka says after finally believing Mari. "Hey this guy right here defeated an angel the first time he ever piloted an Eva." Mari drapes an arm over Shinji. "And this guy achieved a 300% synch rate during his second fight." Mari drapes her other arm over me. "T-thanks Mari." Shinji says still a bit surprised. "No problem." Mari says cheerfully before winking at him.

"Well since I guess we're going to be teammates we might as well introduce ourselves." Asuka says with more than a bit of disdain, and that look in her eye, is that jealousy for mine and Shinji's piloting skills? I smirk a bit since I couldn't help but get some satisfaction out of that.

"I'm Asuka Langely Soryu, charmed huh?" Asuka starts off. "I'm Mari Makinami." Mari says before giving you guys another flirtatious look. "Shinji Ikari." says in his usual passive way. "Brandyn Hicks here." I say casually. "I am Rei Ayanami" Rei says in her usual monotone voice. "Wonder girl." Asuka practically growls. I look around "Um...where did Kensuke and Touji go?" I ask. "They left a few moments ago." Rei answers. "Ah I see, Kensuke probably went to go get some more footage of the ships." I respond.

"So where's Misato?" Asuka asks all of a sudden. "She said she was going to introduce herself to the captain." Rei says. "Why do you care anyway?" I ask. "Misato was Asuka's guardian albeit only briefly." Mari answers. "Can't I want to go see how she's doing?" Asuka says. I would've said something smart but my cheek is still stinging from her last slap.

Our little gang walks to the captains bridge (sorry if I got that wrong I don't know the first thing about ships.) and find Misato arguing with the captain. "Look until that toy is on land it's my responsibility." the captain says. "Alright fine but sign this saying that in case of angel attack Nerv gets full authority over the Eva." Misato says, I could tell that Misato was just tired of arguing with the stubborn captain.

Misato turns to find us standing there, "Oh hey Asuka." She says. "It's been a while Misato." Asuka replies. "You've sure grown up." Misato says. "And that's not all, my figure's filled out as well." Asuka brags while putting her hands on her hips. "Must not think dirty thoughts, Must not think dirty thoughts." I chant in my head.

"So what toy was that captain talking about earlier?" Shinji asks. "God you're such an idiot, he's talking about my Unit 02." Asuka replies." O-oh." Shinji says. "And these are supposed to be the saviors of the world, give me a break." the Captain snaps. "Let's get out of here." Mari states. "I agree." I well...agree.

"Hey don't forget about me." says a mysterious voice. "Oh No." Misato mumbles while pinching the bridge of her nose. Meanwhile Asuka's face lights up almost instantly. I take a large step back to make sure I'm not caught in the middle when the sparks fly. The mysterious figure steps onto the bridge, "Kaji!" Asuka yells and hugs him. "Why are you here?" Misato bitterly asks. "I couldn't just pass up the chance to see my favorite woman in the world." he replies. I couldn't tell if he was playing along with Asuka's game or if he was talking to Misato...probably both.

"Oh come on Brandyn there's plenty of room." Mari purrs. I look at the packed elevator, Misato, Touji, Shinji, Asuka, and Kaji just barely fit in the elevator. "That's ok Mari I'll just take the next one." I say. "Oh well I guess Shinji will have to do." Mari says. Shinji's face instantly turns red. I push the elevator and the last I hear from the group are Misato and Asuka yelling at Kaji and Touji. I wait for a little bit and take the next elevator with Kensuke and Rei.

A few minutes later everyone was sitting down for lunch. "So tell me you two, is Misato still wild in bed?" everyone except Me, Mari, and Shinji are shocked at what they just heard. "Well she does snore." I comment, I savor this moment since she's the one usually doing the teasing.

Suddenly the boat is rocked and the alarm sounds. "Touji, Asuka follow me." Misato says and runs towards their Eva's. "So...what do we do?" I ask casually. Before anyone else can say anything Kensuke runs off with his camera. "Well I guess that answers my question." I say before running off after him. We make it just in time to watch Units 02 and 03 activate. "Oh geez these two working together, this oughta be good." Mari says. "This isn't a game Mari." Shinji says.

"Now this angel swims and you guys have B type equipment on, so wait for it to come to you." Misato says over the loudspeaker. "Got it!" both pilots say simultaneously. Gaghiel suddenly jumps out of the water towards Unit 02 jaw wide open. Asuka dodges the angel and it lands on the ship, Asuka then prys the angels jaw open. "Touji now!" Asuka yells. Touji aims at the core with his rifle but before he can take the shot the angel bites down on unit 02. "Asuka!" Misato yells. Unit 03 hops to the ship Asuka's on and prys open Gaghiels mouth. Asuka wastes no time getting out her progressive knives and stabbing that bitch in it's core.

The core explodes as per usual and Touji just kinda casually kicks the Angel back into the sea.

**Some time later**

"You alright Asuka?" Mari asks. "Of course I am, the hardest part of this mission was having to work with this stooge." Asuka jerks her thumb towards Touji. "Hey would've been fish food if it wasn't for me!" Touji yells. "Yep" I think, "everything's back to normal." "Hey we're only a few miles off shore, we'll be on dry land in no time." Misato exclaims. Everyone cheers at that, we would've been strangling each other if we had to spend anymore time together like this. I look around...wait a minute where did Kaji go?

Sorry about the dissapoint fight...again. I just can't write them for the life of me. On another note a few disclaimers and clarifications. 1. Why do "I" know nothing about Mari despite being a huge Eva fan? Well because I wanted some sense of mystery in this story. 2. Speaking of Mari why is she such a flirt, she's not like that in the movies(from what little we've seen of her anyway)? Well because I'm basing this off the personality that she was given in the fanfic Rebirth by RyoshiMorino. If you haven't read that yet well I recommend it.

3. If any avenged sevenfold fans have read this you'll notice that Welcome to the family is the name of one of their songs and that the little quote is from that song. I'll be doing this from time to time (or all the time...IDK yet) I'll just name the chapter after a song and put a quote from said song at the beginning of the chapter, this quote will describe an event of character featured in that chapter. For example the quote I used this time obviously describes Asuka.

That's about it hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:Teamwork**

Now normally I save any comments I have for the end of the chapter but this is pretty important, for anyone who has been following this story since the beginning, I just wanted to tell you guys that I've retconned confessing to knowing everything to Misato because honestly I just don't think that the ideas I have in mind will work as well if I kept that plot point in. For anyone who has started reading this story after I post this chapter well I've already edited the chapters so you have nothing to worry about.

"Wait what?!" Misato exclaims, shortly after getting back on land Gendo had asked to speak with everyone. "I cannot believe you." Shinji bluntly states. "I'm not doing this, no way!" Asuka yells. Mari just winks at me and Shinji. "I've already set everything up, all the pilots will be living together from now on, with you Captain Katsuragi as their guardian." Gendo repeats himself. "But my apartment isn't big enough to fit these many kids." Misato says. "We've had a house built while you were gone." Gendo says.

**Two weeks later**

Mari's out, Shinji's cooking lunch, Rei's petting Pen-Pen, Touji and Kensuke are reading some kind of comic, and Misato's still asleep, yep everything's peaceful. "Asuka don't get in my way!" I yell. "In YOUR way, I'm the one doing most of the work here!" she yells back. "Oh no! Asuka, Ramiel's got me in a corner." I say. "Well then go berserk, I've got my own troubles with these mooks!" she responds. "I don't have enough energy-ah goddamnit!" I yell. I had bought a game system shortly after moving in, the job of saving the world nets you a pretty big paycheck. We were playing a 2d beat em up centered around the Eva's (think turtles in time with Evangelions instead of the turtles.)

I look at the screen, it's just a picture of all the the angels taunting the fallen Eva's with the text game over in the middle of the screen. "Dummkopf! Thanks to you we lost!" Asuka yells before throwing the controller at my head. "EEP!" I yell instinctively while ducking under the projectile. "Oh, looks like Asuka's gone on another rampage." Touji states. Asuka begins to go on a rant about how she's better than me at everything, including video games, I just nod throughout the speech. "God your just as housebroken as that pathetic Shinji." she says before storming back to her room. "Lunch is ready." Shinji says as he walks into the living room. He takes a look at Asuka as she stomps back to her room and then at the game controller wedged into the wall. "Uh what did I miss?" he asks.

After explaining the situation to Shinji, we all sit down for lunch (well everyone but Asuka and Misato) by this point Mari had come back. "So where did you run off to anyway?" I ask her as she sits down. "Oh uh, Shinji asked me to get groceries." she says while holding up a small bag. "No I-" Shinji suddenly stops. "Don't think I didn't notice that wink his way, Mari." I think to myself, though I don't actually call her out on it. I go back to my rice. Honestly the only two japanese foods I could adjust to were rice and miso soup, I feel a bit bad about forcing Shinji to essentially cook two meals whenever he cooks but it's not like I can change my taste buds. Suddenly we all hear a knock at the door.

Shinji goes to answer it, he opens the door and...Ritsuko?! "I uh hi Dr. Akagi." Shinji stutters obviously surprised by her sudden appearance. "The third and sixth children will come with me." Ritsuko states. "Wait a minute what the hell is going on here." Touji demands "An angel is attacking and I need you and Shinji to come with me. Mari, Brandyn, Kensuke, and Asuka...wherever she is will stay in Tokyo 3 in case of another angel attack, also hand this note to Misato when she wakes up, it'll just be easier than explaining it to her." Mari being the closest one to the door (except for Shinji obviously) takes the note. Ritsuko, Shinji, and Touji leave. "So uh...what do we do now?" I ask.

About an hour has passed and by this point Misato has woken up and Asuka has calmed down. Kensuke, Mari and I explain the situation to them. "I wish my Eva was here, then I would've been able to go on a super cool mission." Kensuke says. Asuka scoffs, "Please, as if someone like you will be able to pilot an Eva." "Hey I was chosen for a reason." Kensuke defends. "Only because Nerv was desperate, which I don't really understand when they have the greatest Eva pilot in their arsenal, me!" Asuka brags.

"Asuka you're going to learn how to work with other Eva pilots sooner or later." Misato says. "Hah! I can take care of the angels myself, I don't need any help from the rest of these so called 'Eva pilots'". Asuka spits venomously. Jesus christ now I know why Shinji strangled her in the End of Evangelion. Well it was a hallucination of sorts but still. "Didn't Touji save you just a few days ago?" I ask before ducking down expecting something heavy to be hurled at my head.

Suddenly Misato's phone rings, "What, why now?!" she exclaims. "Come on, another angels appeared." She says before walking towards her car. "Um, can't we walk?" I ask remembering the last time Misato drove us anywhere. "Oh don't be such a baby." Asuka mocks. I sigh and get into the car and immediately realize that fitting four people into Misato's back seat is a bad idea. "Well at least I got a window seat" I think to myself.

Mari's right beside me to my left, of course. I wonder whats with her anyway she always seems to be flirting with me and Shinji yet not Kensuke and Touji, weird. The car suddenly stops making all of us fly forward a bit and interrupts my train of thought. "We're here." Misato says.

"Rei and Asuka go get suited up." she adds. A few minutes later Mari, Kensuke, and I are in the command HQ watching Units 00 and 02 being launched to the surface. "This is going to be so cool!" Kensuke exclaims while pointing his camera towards the screen. "Pay attention, you'll have to do this soon." Misato says to Kensuke.

"Units 00 and 02 have reached the surface, what are your orders captain?" Makoto asks. "Rei, Asuka we don't anything about this angel so just keep your distance and if you see an opening go for the core." Misato orders. "Heh I can take this angel on myself, so just stay out of my way wonder girl." Asuka says before charging towards the angel with her sonic glaive. She jumps up and cuts the angel in two.

Everyone begins to cheer thinking we've won. I take the mircrophone from Misato, with her yelling a startled "Hey!" "Asuka I think I just saw it twitch, get out of there." I order or well try to anyway. "What you talking about you dummkopf?" she asks. Suddenly the angel splits into two, and tries to attack Asuka, she dodges though. "Look wonder girl, I need some help here." Asuka whines. Everyone in Hq is surprised by Asuka's cry for help.

"While your in the giving mood will you trust me?" I ask her. Misato's just kind've standing there not knowing how to react to the fact that I basically took her job. "What are you planning?" Asuka asks curiosly. "Well it's not too far fetched that the core split when the angel did, so taking both cores out at once makes the most sense." I say trying to act like I'm just figuring this out now. "Your smarter than you look, you get all that wonder girl?" Asuka asks. "Affirmative." Rei responds. "Then follow my lead." Asuka orders.

She takes out her handy progressive knife, and Rei, her Eva recently being refitted with the shoulder pylons does the same. Asuka dodges another swipe by Isfarel as Rei runs up to the other half. Both Rei and Asuka, apparently being of one mind for a little kick their respective half towards each other thus forcing Isfarel to reform into it's base form. Before it can complete doing that though both Rei and Asuka stab into the core with their progressive knives. Suddenly Isfarel explodes, leaving a small crater in it's wake.

A quick zoom in on the monitor shows that the Evas are relatively unharmed. "Now see Asuka was asking for help really that hard?" I ask. "Hmph." is the only response Asuka gives. "Good news! Shinji and Touji destroyed their angel too." Ritsuko's voice suddenly states over the monitor. I mentally breath a sigh of relief, that's two more angels down. Suddenly I feel like someone is watching me, I whip around and see Gendo higher up in the room staring at me. That's right you bastard, I'll be coming for you soon enough.

I apologize for the delay guys, I just had no motivation to write this particular chapter for some reason. I guess this is what writers block feels like. Anyway I now have a bit more of a plot formed in my head so things should pick up by the time I get to Leliel (the zebra ball...thing). P.S yeah I know I was lazy with the title this time.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:Failed espionage

"So the angel hatched as soon as you guys caught it?" I ask in (faked) disbelief. "Yeah, the bastard hatched and broke out of the cage like tissue paper!" Touji yells. "Well there goes our chance to figure out where the angels come from." I (once again fake)said in frustration. In all actuality I was relieved, I mean in the show Seele created the mass produced Eva's that killed Asuka with no trouble with only the knowledge of the S2 engine. I can't help but imagine what kind of monster they would create with an intact angel (well not including Lilith) to examine, then visibly shudder at the thought. "Brandyn!" Touji yells in my ear. "Ow, I'm right here!" I mumble. "You spaced out for a second." Shinji backs up his friends decision.

"Anyway, tell us how Asuka and Rei's mission went." Kensuke begs. "Geez man, you really have to get out of this whole military phase." I respond. Kensuke just gives me a dirty look. "But anyway, you'll never believe what Asuka did during the mission. She actually asked Rei for help." I add before getting a bonk on the head. "Ow." I mumble as I turn around to face my attacker. "Hey, that was a really powerful angel!" Asuka yells at me. I wanted to tell her that Isfarel was one of the weaker angels in the series but I didn't have the heart...that and I didn't feel like getting my face pounded in. "I'm sure it was Asuka." Shinji says either because that's just how he is or he's intentionally trying to defuse the situation. Either way I'm grateful, at least now Shinji was her target instead of me.

A few days later

"It's the best part of school. Lunch!" Touji celebrates. "We get it already Touji, you say this everyday." Kensuke says. "I agree with the military nerd, put a sock in it already." Asuka adds. "So anyway, you guys hear about units 05 and 06 finally being shipped over?" I ask. "Yeah, oh I just can't wait to pilot something!" Mari exclaims. "I wish I could." Kensuke says sadly. "Oh I'm sure Unit 04 will be shipped over sooner or later." I reply. "It just doesn't make sense though, why would Units 05 and 06 be sent over before unit 04?" Shinji questions.

"Speaking of wasn't there some treaty stating that we couldn't have more than 3 eva's?" Kensuke says curiously. "The vatican treaty was disbanded once the UN realized that angels were only going to attack Japan." Mari says. "Hmm." Kensuke hums obviously curious. "Well good riddance, that treaty was stupid anyway. The only way to explain how that got passed in the first is if the UN was run by idiots." Asuka says. This is one of the first times I actually agree with her.

"How did you know that anyway Mari, the rest of us weren't told." Kensuke asks. "Oh I heard Ritsuko and Misato talking about it." Mari says in an obvious lie. Once again noone directly questions her because animosity between pilots is the last thing anyone wants. "Hey guys lunch is over!" we all hear Hikari's voice.

The next day

A bright sunny day, busy streets, and two evangelion pilots on a mission. "What's Mari hiding?" Kensuke mumbles. "I don't know man, but I never trusted her from day one." Touji replies. Mari suddenly feels like someone's watching her and looks back over her shoulder, luckily Kensuke and Touji blend in pretty easily with the rest of the the crowd.

"Hey Touji have you noticed that none of the street lights appear to be working?" Kensuke asks. "I'm sure it's just a glitch." Touji replies. "A glitch in Tokyo 3, not likely especially with the magi system." Kensuke replies. "AH! We lost her!" Touji yells. "I think we have more pressing matters!" Kensuke replies while pointing at the angel Mataherael.

Meanwhile at Nerv HQ

Everyone is in a frenzy, Maya, Aoba,and Ritsuko are all furiously typing at their respective computers. "What is going on here?!" Misato asks while walking into the room obviously just hearing that something's wrong. "All we know is that all the power in Tokyo 3 has just gone out." Aoba replies while typing. "What, how?!" Misato yells.

"We're not sure yet-OH NO!" Maya suddenly yells. "What is it Maya?" Ritsuko asks. "AT field detected! An angel has infiltrated HQ." Maya replies. "What?! How did this happen?!" Misato yells while looking at Ritsuko. Ritsuko just keeps typing not even fazed by her accusations.

Back on the surface

"What the hell was that?!" Shinji yells. Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and I all pick ourselves off the ground. "It's gotta be the next angel." I say. "But Touji and Kensuke are still out there!" Shinji exclaims. "I'll help them, you guys go get to your Eva's." I say. "Hey I'm the one in charge here!" Asuka yells. Another quake knocks us down again. "Ugh Dummkopf, Wondegirl let's go." Asuka says before running off with Rei and Shinji trailing behind.

I run off in the other direction. I don't even know where to look, I fight through a crowd running towards the geofront to get to the bunkers. "I don't even know where to look." I think as I run. "I've been running around on a wild goose chase for 20 minutes now." I mutter as I pant for air. I take another look around, and my eyes spot something. Is that Mari's headband, I guess I'm getting close.

I walk up and pick them up, I might as well give them back to her. It's the least I could do after sending Kensuke and Touji to spy on her. Suddenly I hear a click and feel something pushing up against the back of my head. I put my hands above my head, and my assailant takes the head band out of my hand. "Thanks, I thought I lost these." I hear the gunman say. "What are you doing Mari?" I say while trying to make my trembling less noticeable.

Sorry about the delay again, I had a lot on my mind lately. Personal issues, Lack of drive at first, I wanted to take a few days and analyze where this story was heading, and one other thing that I'll mention a little later, so yeah a lot of reasons for this not getting done quickly.

I apologize once again. Another fun fact about this chapter, this was originally just supposed to be filler like in the original series and the whole Track Mari plot was something I came up with on the fly...then again that's how I do most of these chapters.

So about that thing that distracted me from writing this well I'm planning on writing another story. A The world ends with you fic to be specific so if anyone likes that game look forward to that. The reason I want to mention this (besides shameless plugging) is because that fic is going to take a hell of a lot more time and effort to make (not that I don't put effort into this story), and so I'll try not to let writing that interfere with this story but if I don't update for a while well that's probably a big part of the reason why. Also if your excited for the new story well don't expect the first chapter out for a while for similar reasons. As always feel free to comment.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:Cross Roads (Brandyn's POV)

"What's going on here Mari?" I ask in the most confident voice I could muster. This was all a facade though because inside I was shaking like a leaf, though who wouldn't be in this situation. I mean a teammate and a friend has a gun up to my head. Mari doesn't say anything though she just pokes the gun into my back presumably leading me towards...somewhere.

Normally I would yell for help but it's pretty easy to kidnap someone when the streets are abandoned. After a few minutes of walking she leads me into a building. It looks like a normal warehouse, only with a table and chairs in the middle of the room. From the looks of it this was abandoned long before the current angel attack, speaking of Mari doesn't seem very concerned about the eldritch abomination that could possibly cause the apocalypse if not killed.

I look around and see Touji and Kensuke laying on the floor. "Are they..." I fight the panic building inside me. "Don't worry they're not dead, just unconcious." a male voice responds. I mentally breathe a sigh of relief, before looking around the room for the voice. "Kaji?!" I yell in surprise upon seeing him. "Nice to see you too." He says good naturedly while giving a little wave. I feel the gun withdraw from my lower back. Kaji, Mari, and I sit down.

"Sorry about the hostility before I suppose I should reintroduce myself, Mari Makinami Pilot of Eva Unit 05 and agent for the European government." Mari says. "So what exactly do you want?" I ask. "We just want to talk." Kaji says. "Oh don't give me that, you want something." I reply. "Information." Mari says blandly. "What exactly leads you to believe that I would hide anything from you guys?" I ask. "You may be cute but you're not very bright, did you seriously think noone would question the fact that you're supposedly a random amnesiac? And even if you did think of a more convincing lie there are tons of other things that gave you away. When talking with Shinji and the gang your words always seemed a bit...perfect. Almost like you knew them for years and knew exactly how to deal with them. Plus did you really think that noone noticed you staying up all night, and then there's this." Mari finishes while throwing a piece of paper at me.

It bounces off my head and it lands in my hands, I uncurl it and find that it's one of my failed plans. That feeling of panic is coming back. If Mari could see right through me this easily, then imagine what plans Gendo has already made to get rid of me. Kaji being the good cop in this situation tries to calm me down, "Look if you're plans are to be believed we're all on the same side here. Your information could help us tremendously." I take a few deep breaths before finally replying, "Alright look I can't tell you how I know but I will tell you this, I know what's going to happen, there have been some deviations but for the most part I can see the future, and I've been trying to prevent Third Impact." after that I started to tell them everything, what I know, deviations from the timeline, and what's to come.

"So Seele and Gendo are just using the pilots for their own sick needs!" Mari yells. I nod sadly, "It must've been tough knowing all this." Kaji says. I look back at Kensuke and Touji, "What do we do with them?" I ask. "Well we'll just tell them that they were knocked out during the angel attack." Mari says. "I guess that makes sense, by the way shouldn't we be worrying about the angel." I say just remembering it. "What don't you have faith in Rei, Shinji, and Asuka?" Kaji questions.

Yeah I'm splitting this up into 3 mini parts. It just makes the most sense because 3 completely different events are going on right now in the story.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Crossroads (Pilots)

"Baka Shinji, hurry up!" Asuka yells back to her slower teammate. Shinji doesn't respond and just keeps running. "Stop." Rei says bluntly. "What do you want wonder girl?!" Asuka pratically yells. Rei simply points towards the entrance to the transit that leads them to the geofront. "I knew that." Asuka growls before stomping in that direction. Shini and Rei follow behind.

Rei swipes her ID card...and nothing. "What's the matter Rei, did Ritsuko forget to renew your card again?" Shinji asks while swiping his Id card and once again nothing happens. "What are you stupid, what's the hold up?!" Asuka demands. "T-the ID cards don't work." Shinji stammers. "Your probably just not doing it right!" Asuka says before swiping her key card and in this case three times is not the charm as it still doesn't work.

"The power appears to be out." Rei states. "Well in that case I nominate myself as leader, any objections?" Asuka states in a superior tone. Neither Rei nor Shinji say anything, "Well now that that's settled." Asuka trails off as she tries to figure out just what to do. Meanwhile Rei is taking out her NERV pamphlet and begins reading the emergency section.

She gets up and walks to a door. "What are you doing?" Asuka asks. "Alternate exit." Rei says while holding up the pamphlet. "Don't you patronize me!" Asuka yells while stomping past Rei and flinging the door open. Rei and Shinji follow behind silently.

After that it was a pretty boring trip though at some point or another Rei had taken the lead, which of course only served to piss Asuka off. "Look at her, she thinks she deserves to be in charge. She's nothing but a self righteous bitch." Asuka whispers to Shinji. "Rei may be a bit different but she's not like that." Shinji responds. "Oh really, she won't even look at us when she talks, not to mention the fact that she's obviously the commanders favorite and you think she doesn't look down on us, I guess I gave you an accurate nickname after all." Asuka determines.

"I am not treated any better." Rei says before continuing down the hallway. Asuka would of said something but they had made it to HQ and were greeted by Ritsuko who rushed them to their Evas. The Evas crawl through a small (to them) ventilation shaft to an opening. "Whoa!" Shinji yells surprised by the random vertical shaft.

He begins to climb up it but is then hit from above by some orange liquid. "OW!" Shinji yells before going back into the ventilation shaft. "It's acidic." Shinji says. "Ha! That's what you get for charging into battle without my permission." Asuka mocks. "I have a plan, one person will be on offense they will attack the angel, one person will be on defense they will defend the person on offense, and one person will be on support, they will go pick up the rifle at the bottom of the shaft and give it to the person on offense. I will be on defense, Baka Shinji will be on offense, and Wonder girl will be on support." Asuka orders.

Rei jumps down the shaft to get the rifle, Shinji's the next one to come out of the shaft and positions himself in a way so he won't fall, Asuka is the last to leave the positions herself so she's protecting Shinji. The angel continues to send acid down the shaft. "AH!" Asuka's cries of pain echo throughout HQ. "Rei hurry up!" Shinji yells. Rei throws the rifle up and Shinji catches it. "Asuka move!" Shinji orders. Asuka moves out of the way and Shinji shoots the giant eyeball with legs.

A few minutes later

The pilots were extracted from there Evas and everything at HQ was back to normal. "Nice job Baka Shinji, though I had the most dangerous job." Asuka says. "Thanks." Shinji says. "So why did the power go out anyway?" Shinji asks Ritsuko. "Well it's a bit of a long story." Ritsuko starts.

Only one more chapter to go of the Crossroads "Mini series". Yeah sorry that this chapter is basically just an abridged version of the show, I couldn't think of any changes to make but at the same time didn't want to just skip it like I did the volcano angel, and unfortunately it seems like the next chapter is going to suffer the same fate, things should pick back up in the originality department in chapter 14 though.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Cross roads (Nerv Personnel) "AT field detected, an angel has infiltrated HQ!" Maya yells. "What, how could this happen?!" Misato yells. "Shut down the alarms, we can't let Seele know that an angel has penetrated HQ." Gendo orders. "Yes sir!" Misato replies. "It seems to be attached to the protein wall, what should we do?" Maya asks. "Don't we have lasers near the protein wall?" Makoto says.

"Yes, attack the angel with them." Misato orders. The lasers bounce off the angels AT field. "Damn it, it may be small but it's At field is as powerful as any other." Ritsuko mutters. "OH NO, it's trying to hack into the Magi!" Maya yells while typing furiously on her keyboard. Ritsuko begins to do the same. "Can you two go any faster?!" Misato yells.

"It's already hacked into Melchior!" Maya yells. "Balthasar's been compromised too." Ritsuko yells. "It seems to be constantly evolving." Aoba states. "If that's the case then if we put it in a position where it has to cooperate with the Magi to survive then that should stop it." Ristuko says. "Well first we have to slow it down, it's almost hacked Casper." Maya says. "Can you do it Ritsuko?" Misato asks pleadingly. "Well I am Nerv's top scientist for a reason." Ritsuko replies.

"A password here, a firewall there, and done. That should hold it off for a few hours." Ritsuko adds. "Misato can you get me some power tools?" Ritsuko asks while typing in a few keys on her keyboard. "Sure Ritsuko-" Misato's voice trails off as she watches the super computer rise.

A few minutes later

"Oh wow look at all these notes, are these...they are! With these codes we should be able to finish the program in half the time." Maya exclaims. Maya takes some of the notes and starts typing on her laptop. Meanwhile Ritsuko and Misato are literally sitting inside the super computer. "So Ritsuko what is all this?" Misato asks. "It's the inside of the Magi system, speaking of do you know how all this was built?" Ritsuko asks. "No, why?" Misato replies.

"It was built by my mother, each of the three parts of the system represent part of her personality." Ritsuko explains. "Wow, must have been a pretty complicated process." Misato says. "Yeah, it was the first time anyone developed an AI system on this level. That technology would soon be integrated into the Evas." Ritsuko explains.

"It's almost hacked into Casper, are you almost done Ritsuko?" they both hear Maya's voice. "Almost." Ritsuko yells back. "So you'll be done ahead of schedule then?" Misato asks. "Nope, I'll have one second to spare." Ritsuko explains calmly. "What?!" Misato yells. "And almost...done!" Ritsuko exclaims. "The angel has stopped it's hacking attempts." Makoto says.

"Good job." Misato says while handing Ritsuko a cup of coffee. "You know this is one of the only times I'm actually happy to have this paint thinner you call coffee." Ritsuko remarks before taking a sip.

Don't worry next chapter won't be an abridged version of an episode and it will have actual differences and shit.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Brothers in arms

"Unit 06 has finally arrived, an Eva built by Seele themselves. Are you sure we should give it to that kid? He's been here for 3 months yet we know nothing about him, are you sure it's safe?" Fuyutski asks. "The fifth child is no different from the other pilots, merely a pawn to use for our gain. If anything he may be more beneficial than we first thought, he seems to be very dedicated to helping the other pilots. That should make him easy to manipulate if the need arises." Gendo explains. He then gets into his signature pose and small smirk appears on his face. "Don't you fear Kozo nothing will prevent me from returning to my precious Yui." He adds.

Misato's apartment

"I just got the reports from Ritsuko, good job on the high synchro rates you two." Misato says as Mari and I walk into the house. "Oh piloting an eva was so AWESOME!" Mari yells at the top of her lungs. Ever since my interrogation I've always been a bit wary around Mari, she's just so hard to read now that I know she act or not can be really intimidating when she wants to be. "Nice to see another competent Eva pilot on the team." Asuka says while patting Mari's shoulder, Jesus when did she get here. "It's just too bad we have these stooges as our allies." she comtinues. "*Cough*Gaghiel*Cough*" I retort.

I could only assume she wasn't too happy with that comment when the nearest object in this case a chair came flying at me. Mari and Misato just laugh at the ordeal.

"So how did it go?" Shinji asks. Eventually I had gotten away from Asuka and walked into the living room that was currently being inhabited by Shinji, Touji, Kensuke, Rei and Pen pen who was sitting on Rei's lap. Rei actually seems to be the only one that Pen pen actually likes, besides Misato obviously. I wonder if she's just a pet person, I try to imagine Rei petting a dog but eventually go back to talking with Shinji.

"It was just like any other Synch tests only with slightly different scenery." I shrug. "So what did it look like?" Kensuke asks. "Dark blue with some of the edges being gold." I say still not really sure why Kensuke was so into this stuff. The conversation didn't really go in any interesting direction after that.

That Night

As I lay in my bed I begin to think about what's happened so far, have I been having a positive impact on these guys, have my actions caused repercussions that will drastically effect events later on Then there's Mari, honestly I just can't read her I have no idea what her motives are. Hell I don't even know what her personality is, is it the cheerful flirt or the terrifying bad cop. I sigh, you'd think knowing everything about this universe would make this easier.

Suddenly my door opens, I was expecting a sleep walking Asuka, that's happened before since mine and Shinji's rooms are right next to each other. Those incidents always ended up with me having a black eye. My expectations were crushed though when the possibly bipolar chick walked into the room.

"What is it Mari?" I whisper not wanting to wake everyone up. "Oh come on is that how you treat a girl sneaking into your bedroom in the middle of the night?" Mari asks with a wink. And then suddenly my face was red, not only because I was blushing but because of anger as well. I knew she was just fucking with me and that pissed me off.

"What do you want Mari?" I reiterate while trying to hide the discernable growl in my voice. "We need to start making plans don't we?" Mari states. "Yeah but wouldn't it be better to do this oh I don't know in a secure location?" I reply. "Wouldn't it be a bit weird if we just kept sneaking off from the group, they'd surely get suspicious eventually. Especially since you sicked Touji and Kensuke on me." Mari states. Suddenly my feet were very interesting. I scratch the back of my head, "Yeah sorry for that." I apologize. "Apology accepted now are we going to plan or what?" Mari says hurridely. "Oh uh sure." I say.

After that we discuss everything, I have to repeat what happened, discuss plans of attack, and had to deal with Mari and all of her (possibly) bipolar wonder. After we all that we got...jackshit. I get up and stretch, "Ugh it's 6 in the morning and we made no progress." I complain. "Well Shinji's father is a mastermind, did you seriously expect to just swoop in and save everyone like a shining knight?" Mari questions.

What WAS I expecting, did I think of myself as a knight in shining armor that would save the "Kingdom" of Tokyo 3 on a majestic steed? I sigh, great not only do I know nothing about her now she's playing mind games. Mari and I walk out of the room to go do...something.

I walk into the kitchen to go grab breakfast and see Shinji. That's odd even for Shinji 6 am is pretty early, maybe Asuka just slept in his bed again. "So what's up Shinji?" I say trying to make small talk. "Oh you're up early, and was that Mari who came out with you?" he asks. I yawn, "Yeah neither of us could get any sleep last night so we played some video games." I partially lie.

"Speaking of what got you up so early?" I question before Shinji presses the issue further. "Oh I just figured I'd get up earlier to cook everyone's lunches for the day." Shinji explains. "But isn't it the weekend?" I reply. "Oh is it? I thought it was Monday." Shinji says. I squint my eyes a bit, someone as organized a Shinji would never make a mistake like that. I don't press the issue though, the kid already has enough problems as it is without his friend pressuring him on menial things like this. "Well everyone makes mistakes." I assure him.

A few hours later

It's about ten now and everyone's woken up and had breakfast at this point. Everyone's in the living room watching a movie that is (loosely) based on our adventures in the Eva's. "I am not that whiny!" "I would never be caught dead flirting with that idiot!" "I'm not that nerdy!" were some of the common complaints.

After the movie was over I decided to talk to Rei, everyone seems to have been ignoring her lately. "So how have you been adjusting?" I ask. "The living conditions are more acceptable than before." Rei states. "Oh, that's good." I say. After that I had a feeling that the conversation was over.

"What was that, an angel above the atmosphere, come on guys!" Misato yells. We all get into the car and drive to Nerv HQ. "So it's been aiming it's shots towards Tokyo 3." Misato states, the fact that she's talking on her phone while driving just made her driving even worse.

Nerv HQ

"What, you want us to catch it?!" Asuka yells. "Yep, I want you to get close to the angel and expand your At field effectively catching it and stopping it's descent." Misato states calmly. "Can this even be considered a plan?" Touji asks. Misato just chuckles a bit. "So what's the success rate?" Shinji asks. "It's probably best if you don't know that." Misato replies.

With that we were put into the Eva's, with six of us here this shouldn't be a problem. We were launched up to the surface. "We are leaving the rest of this operation to your judgement, and whatever happens I just want to say that I'm grateful to you for trying." Misato says.

The power cords are unlocked and all six of us start running towards the angel, knocking over houses, trees, power cables, whatever stood in our way. Suddenly the angel begins to change, I knew it would change but I wasn't expecting this. Sahaquel suddenly splits into three, "Damnit!" Touji's voice rings through the entry plug.

"We have to split up into three groups of two!" Mari yells. Nobody objected to the plan. The groups we split into are Shinji and Rei, Asuka and Touji (much to Asuka's anger), and Mari and I. I run right under one of the bodies, "At field expand!" I yell and the Eva obeys. Despite being split into three each body still dwarfs the Eva's.

The Unit 06 holds it's hands out and catches the angel. The force is too much though and Unit 06 is slowly pushed down onto one knee. I can barely concentrate from the crushing pain. Suddenly I have a vision of a white haired, red eyed, teenager.

"K-Kaworu?" I whisper, suddenly I get a burst of strength. Eva unit 06 suddenly begins to lift the angel up mcuh to Mari's surprise as she slips under the body. "Where did that come from?" She asks. "Can we talk about this later!" I yell. "Sure." she says as she takes out her progressive knives and stabs the core. All three bodies of the angel explode, I guess everyone else succeded too. I take a look over at the pink Eva beside me, I guess she's more trustworthy than I thought.

It's the (belated) anniversary of the story, the story recently reahced 1000 views, I finally gave "myself" some more character, and it was gendo's first line in a chapter. So yeah it's a big day.

In all seriousness though sorry about the delay again I meant to write/post this yesterday since it was the one month anniversary of when I started this story but I just couldn't be bothered. Thanks to everyone who's actually stuck around for this so far. Feel free to comment and such.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:Arms of sorrow

Deeper I'm falling

Into the arms of sorrow

Blindly descending

Empty, that's the best way to describe these streets. It's been a few days since everyone was evacuated when Sahaquel appeared, most people still haven't come back. Nerv is trying to hide that fact to the rest of the world, in order to make themselves look good I guess.

It's kinda similar to how everyone is acting lately, on the surface everyone is fine but deep down things are just getting worse. Touji's sister was more badly injured than what was described in the show and is getting worse, Mari's recently gotten a higher synch rate than Asuka which knowing Asuka is probably driving her insane, Rei seems to be even more distant than in the show and only actually bonding with Pen Pen, the stress of dealing with this many kids on top of everything else that's been going on must be catching up with Misato because she seems to be spending an awful lot of time at Kaji's lately, and Shinji has just been a complete mystery ever since our conversation in the kitchen. The only marginally normal one around the house is Kensuke.

I take a look at my watch, the digital watch reads 8:30 PM. I sigh, I probably should hurry back to the house. Mari's probably worried, I am her main source of information pertaining to the end of the world after all. Depsite what I said about hurrying I had actually taken a rather slow pace, taking almost an hour to get back to the house. Why? Was I ashamed that I let things get this bad? I stop in front of the door.

After a few more minutes I finally open the door and enter the house. All the lights are out, everyone must be in bed already. I tiptoe and try not to make any loud noises, after a few minutes I finally make it to my room without waking anyone up. I walk into my room and lay on the bed, I pull the blanket up to my neck possibly as some childish way to hide myself from the guilt and shame I'm feeling right now. Shortly afterwards I hear my door open.

Already knowing who it is I say "Go away Mari, I can't plan right now.". "This is the third time this week you've been gone all day. You can't just keep ignoring your responsibilities like this." Mari says. "Look Mari, I just...need some time to clear my head." I say choosing my words carefully. I can tell Mari doesn't buy it but she leaves the room anyway.

I just try to get some sleep after that. "Are you even listening to me?!" A certain red haired german yelled at me. "Sorry but I didn't do the homework either." I reply while holding up an empty worksheet in front of her face. "Can't you do anything right?!" She once again yells. I just ignore her. After a bit of silence Asuka takes the hint and walks away from my desk. After that class starts and it's just a boring as always.

Suddenly an alarm goes off, "About time something exciting happened!" Mari yells before rushing out of the classroom. Everyone else follows suit, the regular students running towards the bunkers and the rest of us pilots going towards Nerv HQ. A new angel, I start running through the angels from the show in my head. Leliel must be next. The thought of facing off against that monster makes me sick to my stomach.

Eventually we reach Nerv HQ and are ushered into the changing rooms. "What do you think the next angels like?" Shinji asks me. His voice didn't seem as passive as usual. Almost like he's confident that he can win this fight. "I'm sure Misato will be able to tell you all about the angel." I say while walking out of the room. "Geez, what's his problem?" I hear Touji whisper to Shinji.

We walk in and find Asuka and Mari already in the room and waiting for us. "Honestly...all we know about this angel is that it's a sphere. So keep your distance." Misato says. "And once again Nerv uses their brilliant detective skills." I mutter under my breathe.

We pilots get into our Eva's and are once again launched to the surface. "Guys, let me handle this." I say over the intercom system. After that I start running towards the orb called Leliel. I shoot at it with the pistol the eva was equipped with and jump up onto a building. The orb disappears and some sort of black hole forms on the ground, luckily I was the only one within the black holes reach. The building I'm on begins to sink into the hole. "What's that idiot doing?!" I hear Ritsuko's voice. I begin unloading all of my bullets into the angel. "Come on, Come on." I mutter under my breathe.

Click, Click..."Damnit!" I yell. I was out of bullets and out of time. The building was almost completely absorbed by the angel, I try to jump to the next building but I slip. The next thing I knew I was swallowed up into darkness.

"Ugh where am I?" I ask to empty air while I look around. Suddenly it all comes back to me. "Well I fucked up royally." where the first words to come out of my mouth after assessing the situation. Suddenly I feel a pain in my head and when I open my eyes I find myself on a...train? "You really are a mess aren't you?" a childish voice said.

Suddenly a child appears in the seat in front of me. Wait a second is that a younger version of me?! I put my head in my hands and try to sort everything out. Alright the angel did this to Shinji in the original series so just don't fall prey to it's tricks and-"Do you really want to leave here?" the childish voice mocks. "What are you talking about, of course I do." I reply, taking the bait like the idiot I am. A condescending smirk appears on the childs face, MY face.

"You just want the glory, you don't actually care about them." the angel states all while keeping that smirk on it's face. My hands begin to ball up into fists. Was he right, did I just want to be some shining knight that shows up to save the day? "You've only been trying to help these people to boost your own ego. You could have just waited and relied on your partners to help you, but you just dove right in because you wanted all the glory." The voice accuses. "No, that's not true. I did it because I didn't want them to get hurt." I say but my words don't have much power or truth behind them.

When I think about it I was just trying to help them to boost my own ego and when things got tough I ran away from the problem...just like Shinji. "Oh god I'm pathetic." I mutter under my breath.

NERV HQ

"What was that idiot thinking, attacking an angel head on like that?!" Misato yells. "HA, serves him right." Asuka laughs. "Anyway, the angel seems to exist in 2 dimensions." Ritsuko begins to explain. "Remember that orb that we thought was the angel?" She asks the pilots. Everyone nods. "Turns out that was the angels shadow and the actual angel was the black void that swallowed up Brandyn." Ritsuko continues. "The angel seems to be able to absorb things into it's body so the only way I can think of to destroy it is to throw all the N2 bombs we have into it's body and hope for the best." She finishes.

"But wouldn't that kill Brandyn too?" Shinji asks. Ritsuko nods, "No way! I'm not going through with this!" Touji yells. "If you won't then we'll find another pilot who can." Ritsuko retorts. "It was his fault for rushing in there in the first place." she adds.

Back with Brandyn

I take a look at the built in timer on my wrist, I only have about 5 more hours until the life support runs out. That must mean I've been in here for about a week. Eventually Leliel had left me alone back in the entry plug, probably just to watch me rot. This had given me time to think, Leliel was right. The sleep deprivation incident, the running away, and the charging into battle just now. It was never for to help them, it was just some ploy for attention.

But it didn't work. I'm no hero, I'm just pathet-No. Feeling sorry for myself is what got me here in the first place, I just can't give up now. If I do then I'm no better than Shinji.

I grab the induction levers and begin to try to get unit 06 to move, "Come on, Come on! Move!" Suddenly the inside of the entry plug turns red, I grip the controls harder and can't help but grin. "Alright, here we go!" I announce.

At the operation

2 Eva's stand in the city, "Asuka and Rei, are you ready?" Ritsuko asks. "Affirmative." Rei says. "Let's just get this over with." Asuka says. Suddenly the ground begins to shake and that orb shadow up in the sky begins to bleed. "What the hell is that?" Asuka whispers.

I begin to tear apart the angel in a rage, the angel is ripped apart and the Eva falls out of it. The Eva gives an intimidating roar while the angel bleeds out. "Is that what I'm piloting?!" Asuka yells.

After the destruction of Leliel Unit 06 (with me still inside it)was brought back into Nerv HQ and was washed off of the blood. This gave me time to reflect, I stare at my hand. What was that burst of energy, this happened when I was fighting Sahaquel too. This wasn't an Eva going beserk like when I was piloting unit 01, no this was all me. What the hell is going on here?!

The entry plug is ejected and I'm greeted by two C-Sec angents. "Commander Ikari would like to see you." one of them states. With renewed determination I silently get out of the entry plug and begin to follow them. My hands ball up into fists as I follow them. Time for me to finally get some answers and save my fellow pilots-no friends, this time for the right reasons.

Lots of annoucements this time, first of all I've started a new self insert story this time based on the A certain Magical Index/Scientific Railgun world, it's titled "A certain otherworldly visitor" if you want to check it out. Besides the obviously different setting I did do one other thing differently just so these two stories didn't get too samey.

Speaking of stories I did get an interesting idea for an evangelion story but I don't want to put any other projects on my plate right now (plus I really don't think I'm a good enough writer at the moment to tackle this, though I might try it later) so I might as well tell you guys just so you can try it if you want. I was thinking a Noire type story of a detective (I was thinking OC but Kaji would work too) investigating Nerv and all the weird happenings around tokyo 3, so hey if it sounds interesting to you feel free to try your hand at it.

And last but not least the title and song quote this time around come from the song Arms of sorrow by Killswitch Engage.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: A cruel angel

"Come with me, the commander is waiting." A C-sec grunt orders me. "What does he want?" I wonder to myself as I follow the man out of the Eva hangar. The only sound is the squeaking of my footsteps, I was still soaking wet from head to toe in LCL.

With every step I take I feel a sharp pain in my left side. Eventually the man leads me into a changing room, I look around and see that my school uniform and a towel were in there. "Well at least I don't have to face Gendo in a plug suit, that would've been awkward." I muse to myself as I change.

While changing I brush my hand around where the sharp pain originated from, I take a look and see that there's a long gash going from my waist to my ribcage. I'm reminded of my stay at the hospital after the fight against Ramiel. "I have to be more careful, just because I can get a three hundred synch rate doesn't mean I should." I remind myself.

A minute or two later

I had finished changing and followed the man for a bit longer until we had reached a set of doors. The grunt tells me that the commander is inside. I take a deep breathe, "It's now or never." I mumble to myself. I stride confidently over to the doors and push them open. I'm greeted by a huge empty room, surrounded by windows. In the middle is my target sitting smugly in his chair. His hands folded in some sort of pyramid formation which in turn covers his mouth. "The bastard king himself." I think to myself.

We just stared at each other for a little bit, I can tell that he's slightly wary of me. I wasn't in the plan, I could be the wild card that turns his ambitions on his head. Realizing that fact gives me a bit more confidence. "I've been piloting these abominations for about six months now and this is the first time I've actually seen you face to face, you're not much a people person are you?" I begin with a ever so slight smirk on my face. Gendo ignores the smart remark and gets right down to business.

"You are done piloting Unit 06." he says coldly. "W-what?!" I practically yell. "You seem to have a problem with following orders, and with the fate of the entire world at stake we can't have disobedience." he continues. For the first time since I've gotten my own Eva I feel completely helpless.

"Don't worry." Fuyutski picks up where Gendo left off. "We will keep you as a spare pilot so you will still live in the Katsuragi households with your former teammates." he finishes. "So Unit 06 will be in suspension then?" I ask while clenching my fists. "Not exactly, we have a new pilot." Fuyutski responds.

At that moment I hear the door open behind me. I whirl around, having only one guess as to who this replacement could be. I see the same white haired boy from my "vision". "Kaworu." I grumble, he gives me a wry smile almost as if he's mocking me. What's he doing here, he shouldn't show up until all the other angels are dead. Just what are Seele up to?

"I'm Kaworu Nagisa, it's a pleasure to meet you." Kaworu introduces himself while holding out his hand. I take his hand and shake it but quickly pull it away afterwards. "Do I detect a hint of animosity?" the bastard king asks smugly. "No, we're all good." I reply through gritted teeth. I take a look back at Kaworu, he has some sort of smug smile on his face.

He kind of reminded me of Joshua from the world ends with you. As if reading my mind he says this gem of a line, "Shall we go and meet the other pilots partner?" while running his hand through with his hair. "God he's grating." I think to myself which just hammered in the The world ends with you comparisons even further. With that I followed Kaworu back to misato's place.

Really sorry for the delay, but quite honestly there was nothing I could do about it for the most part. First some personal issues came up, then my internet went out for two weeks, then once the internet was finally fixed (turns out it was an issue on the providers end, go figure) I had homework to make up (I go to an online school).

So yeah once again sorry but I had those pesky priorities to think of. I'm also sorry for the short chapter but I wanted to give you guys SOMETHING, that and I figured Kaworu's introduction could carry a whole(albeit short)chapter. To be honest I was forced into an ultimatum while writing this chapter, I had hyped up the confrontation against Gendo at the end of the last chapter but didn't really know what to do with it.

I also didn't plan to introduce Kaworu until much later but then I thought of the possibilities I could realize by introducing him now. Especially considering the self inserts development in the last chapter, imagine steeling your resolve only to have any and all power taken away from you. I'll stop now since I'm just sucking my own dick at this point, but once again I apologize for the delay.


End file.
